


A Baptism of Fire

by azenki



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Agni Kai (Avatar), Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, POV Outsider, aka public mutilation of a child, it's zuko what did you expect, local everyone is horrified because their reigning monarch is literally evil, local man is horrified because his reigning monarch is literally evil, ozai's an even bigger dickhead than you expected! the musical, who am i kidding it's literally just child abuse, yes THAT agni kai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24161650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azenki/pseuds/azenki
Summary: [A baptism of fire: a difficult introduction to a new job or activity.]Crown Prince Zuko's introduction to his new role as exile is difficult indeed. Chin Zun only wishes he didn't have to watch.Or: there were citizens at that Agni Kai. Chin Zun is one of them.
Comments: 77
Kudos: 1302





	A Baptism of Fire

**Author's Note:**

> hjhs i couldn't get this out of my head so here have my brain trash

When the announcement comes, Chin Zun is mostly confused. 

There hasn’t been an Agni Kai in years. They’ve died out, mostly, save for those used to settle spats in the military. Chin Zun is a minor lord, owner of just enough land that he’s invited to formal functions at the palace, and he hasn’t heard of an Agni Kai being used among nobility for over thirty years. 

And yet here he is, watching a royal messenger declare that, tomorrow at noon, Crown Prince Zuko is to fight an Agni Kai. The news will be all over the Capital by nightfall. 

Chin Zun frowns to himself. He doesn’t _quite_ remember the rules of an Agni Kai—as a nonbender, it’s not required that he learn them—but he’s certain the messenger’s left out a few crucial things. The prince’s opponent, for example. And his age. Chin Zun’s memory must be getting patchy; he _thought_ the Crown Prince was around fourteen or so, but that can’t be right. It’s an old rule, mostly discarded with when younger recruits began joining the army, but it’s generally not considered honourable to challenge a child to Agni Kai. Sixteen is the benchmark; sixteen is when a boy becomes a man.

“Will you go to watch the prince’s Agni Kai?” Aika asks him over dinner, and Chin Zun is honestly surprised at the answer that comes out of his mouth:

“Yes, of course. There hasn’t been entertainment like that around here in years.”

It’s what most of the nobles are thinking, he’s sure, but Chin Zun can’t shake the feeling that it’s wrong to refer to the Prince’s duel as _entertainment._

* * *

Agni and Mitra, the Crown Prince is a _child._

There are no seats in the Agni Kai chamber. No one calls it an arena, but everyone knows that’s what it is: a space made solely for fighting, for bloodshed and burning and flame. Chin Zun stands in the second row, watching, aghast, as the Crown Prince kneels upon the floor.

He’s _young,_ terrifyingly so. Even younger than Chin Zun’s first estimate of fourteen. Thirteen, maybe, or even _twelve._

He does not look, Chin Zun thinks, like his father. Chin Zun has never seen Fire Lady Ursa and he never will, but he _knows_ that this boy simply does not take after the Fire Lord.

The sun hits its zenith, and a gong rings out over the chamber—the starting signal, still louder than anything Chin Zun has ever heard. The Crown Prince rises, sheds his robe, and turns to face his opponent. Chin Zun does too, looking down the pathway to squint at the approaching silhouette.

The crown comes into focus, gold molten in the sun, and Chin Zun’s stomach drops.

This fight is over. Prince Zuko stands no chance.

He turns, once more, to look at the prince—the prince who is young, and shocked, and terrified.

Chin Zun sends up a prayer for Crown Prince Zuko, though he knows Agni won’t hear it.

* * *

The prince folds like a piece of paper, instantly falling to his knees. His child’s bravado from moments before is long gone; now, there is only fear.

“Please, Father—!” His voice cracks. Spirits, he really is young. “I only had the Fire Nation’s best interests at heart. I’m sorry I spoke out of turn!”

The boy is pleading. _Pleading,_ like a prisoner being led to execution.

Chin Zun feels sick.

The Fire Lord pays his son no heed. He approaches the same way a storm cloud approaches, dark and foreboding, and the prince is the ship that is crushed on the rocks.

 _“You will fight for your honour,”_ the Fire Lord thunders, like a god laying down his decrees. His whole face is in shadow— _he_ is in shadow—Agni’s light lies far behind him. 

“I meant you no disrespect,” the prince whispers, curling in on himself like a wild, feral thing, acting on protective instinct. “I am your loyal son.”

The way he says it makes it sound like he’s trying to convince himself as well as his father. Chin Zun’s heart breaks, just a little.

" _Rise_ _and_ **_fight,_ ** _Prince Zuko!”_ the Fire Lord snarls. He is close now, close enough to reach out and strike the first blow. 

“I won’t fight you,” the prince insists. Chin Zun doesn't know whether this makes him a fool, a coward, or a boy more honourable than most full-grown men. Not that it matters. Within the hour, the prince will have nothing to his name.

The Fire Lord seems to agree.

“ _You_ _ **will** learn respect,” _he growls, like a beast, _“and suffering will be your teacher.”_

The prince raises his head. Agni shines on him; there isn’t a single part of his face in shadow. Every line is shown for all to see: here is the fear, and here is the pride, and here is complete and utter terror.

The Fire Lord raises a hand, and his son flinches back. That in itself says far more than Chin Zun ever wants to know.

The hand comes up to cup the prince’s cheek. It would be a gentle touch, a tender touch, a father forgiving his son—if only there was no fire.

But there is fire.

For there, now, is the Fire Lord’s hand, glowing white-hot and wreathed in flame. And there, now, is the Fire Lord’s son, the skin of his face charring and melting beneath his father’s burning palm.

A god striking down his disciples.

The prince’s scream is louder than the gong ever was.

* * *

In the aftermath, there is silence.

The prince keels over, crumpling onto the stone pathway with no sound at all. Compared to the screams of moments before, it's horribly, terribly quiet.

There is good reason for that, Chin Zun realises, as he catches sight of the prince's face. The boy is completely unconscious, and his eye—

_His left eye—_

If Chin Zun had eaten anything before the Agni Kai, he's sure he would've hurled it back up right then and there.

The prince's face is burnt and blistered, raw red skin peeling and cracking in all directions. His eye is welded shut, a crinkle of deep red leather, and there is a streak along his cheekbone that is _blackened,_ in some horrible mimicry of coal.

The Fire Lord stands tall, straight-backed and disdainful, staring down at his shivering son. He does not move to help him. He does not even call for a healer.

On the other side of the platform, someone breaks free from the crowd. They leap onto the pathway and kneel down by the prince's head, shaking hands cradling his face.

"Healer!" Prince Iroh screams, his voice very nearly cracking with urgency. "We need a healer!"

There is a flurry of movement at the edge of the chamber. Moments later, the palace healer and her assistants are striding onto the platform, blanching at the sight of the prince.

They do not have time to cart him off to his room. They drop to their knees beside him and get to work.

Chin Zun knows nothing about healing, but you cannot live in the Fire Nation without knowing _something_ about burns. He is familiar with the way the healer's hands move, how she washes the burn with cold water and moves to slather it in gel, how she binds the bandages and secures them with rope. It's a rough job, but it's the best they can do.

The Fire Lord watches impassively. His right hand hangs at his side, and Chin Zun wonders how it can look so _normal_ after it has done what it has done. 

The prince is carried away on a stretcher. Prince Iroh hurries after him, but his brother suddenly speaks.

"Iroh."

He turns.

The Fire Lord crosses his arms, looking almost _casual_ as he meets his brother's gaze. "From henceforth, Crown Prince Zuko is no more. He is banished for the foreseeable future. I will discuss the terms of his exile with you later."

Prince Iroh's eyes shutter. He bows, nowhere as deep as he should, and murmurs, "Understood, Majesty."

He disappears into the depths of the palace, following his nephew.

The Fire Lord stands there a moment more, before turning to the audience. "Well?" he barks. "What are you still doing here? _Dismissed!"_

Chin Zun scrambles out of the chamber as fast as he can. He does not wish to be the Fire Lord's next victim.

* * *

There is no Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. There is only the Crown Princess and her father, and a palace of open secrets.

Chin Zun doesn’t know where the prince has gone. He is exiled, not dead, but he's as good as. His father has burnt his memory to ash, leaving no traces behind. 

Chin Zun wonders if he'll ever forget the smell of burning flesh.

* * *

His sister lives in the colonies. This time, her monthly letter to him contains something new.

She’s scrawled, _Look familiar?_ on the bottom of a wanted poster. Specifically, a wanted poster for banished Prince Zuko.

So. The prince is alive.

It’s the first time Chin Zun’s seen the prince’s face since that Agni Kai. The scar stands out like a beacon, branding half his image with an exile’s mark.

A traitor’s mark, now, apparently. Traitor Prince Zuko, on the run with his uncle, being hunted by the people who sent him away.

Chin Zun thinks, _good for him,_ and ignores the taste of treason.

* * *

When the Crown Prince returns, Chin Zun is in the audience.

The Prince and Princess are too high up for him to see anything but their silhouettes, backlit by Agni’s light. Princess Azula stands proud and tall, her shoulders pushed back and her head held high. Prince Zuko...doesn’t.

Chin Zun can’t help but think he looks more defeated now than he did three years ago, in front of a father who did not care.

* * *

Chin Zun's nation is in chaos, and the last thing on his mind is the prince.

But when the invasion is over—when there are people calling victory in the streets—he hears the rumours.

Banished again, the servants are saying, this time of his own accord. He's run off to help the Avatar, to take his father's throne.

Chin Zun doesn't know if the prince taking over would be a good thing or bad. But he sees the Princess, fourteen years old and mad with power, and he sees her father, three times her age and just as mad. And he thinks, quietly, that anything would be better than this.

* * *

When the announcement comes, Chin Zun is mostly shocked.

They did it. The Avatar's done it. They've taken down the Fire Lord and declared an end to the war.

Regent Prince Zuko is to be coronated next week.

Chin Zun can't help it. He smiles.

* * *

When Fire Lord Zuko is crowned, Chin Zun is in the audience. 

He sees how their new monarch steps aside to make way for the Avatar. His father hadn't known how to make way for anything, much less his own son.

The Fire Lord treats his scar as a badge of honour. Chin Zun supposes that, if the Fire Lord's doing it, he can do it too.

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in one sitting so no!! it's not good!! but it exists and that's what matters


End file.
